Fragments and pieces
by Chase-Geston
Summary: The world of remnant is slowly falling to pieces, with increased aggression coming from the creatures of grimm in their relentless attacks on villages hunters and huntresses have been spread thin, however a strange figure has manages to reach these villages just before the attacks. Does he know enough about these attacks to stop them?
1. A new start

**A/N:** **For those who haven't read Frozen Remnants and those who have but forgot this chapter doesn't require you to and more about that at the end.** **That was a long hiatus, I know I said this would be continued in Summer and technically it is. The reason this wasn't started was the stress of trying to find a job and not getting any along with the wait for results, I just couldn't sit down and write. A little happy I didn't start until now because even though I wasn't writing I have spent a while planning this and it has changed quite a lot from the original plan. Anyway, enjoy.**

4 asterisks in a row means a change of perspective

"The line between good and evil can easily be blurred by the need for survival…. or revenge"

-Another call in for a grimm attack in one of the outer villages, it started last year, the grimm have become more active and aggressive, hunters and huntresses are spread thin to try and protect as many as we can- Ruby thought to herself as she waiting in her bullhead along with team RWBY, they had just graduated an hour ago and were already being sent out on a mission. She had been looking out at the landscape below her, barely paying attention to the conversation between her teammates.

"This is the third time this village has been attacked in a week, what is causing the grimm to be so active?" Weiss asked

"It could be something to do with the way aura has been changing, anyone can sense it now" Blake answered calmly

"But even the older grimm are joining in on these attacks, they were passive because they knew that we would keep fighting them" Ruby joined in

"They must know something we don't, something making us weaker than we were before" Yang said with a serious expression on her face.

The recent attacks had been a cause of great distress for many hunters and huntresses, atlesian robots were no match for the creatures of grimm anymore so only those who had graduated from academies such as Beacon were allowed near the things, but there wasn't enough space within the four kingdoms to take in the outer villages without causing great poverty.

The creatures had torn apart half of the village already, those brave enough attempted to fight them off but merely served as a sacrifice so that anyone else had a little more time to live. A group of retired huntresses had gathered as many children and took refuge in the basement of an undamaged house in the hopes that the beasts would simply pass by, however they could already hear the stomps around the roof.

The group of huntresses prepared themselves to fend off the stragglers that had found them. They could hear clawing at the entrance to the basement and knew it wouldn't be long. A loud bang busted the door open, a beowulf flew to the wall opposite the door, falling close to where the children were huddling, they screamed and ran away from it.

"Don't worry, that one won't be getting up" The voice drew the attention of everyone in the basement away from the decaying beowulf and towards the figure standing at the entrance

"Thank dust the cavalry are finally here" said one of the ex-huntresses

"Just passing by"

"Either way, you have our thanks, but the other villagers?"

"Don't know, didn't see anyone outside"

"We have to go help them, we can handle ourselves out there"

"Stay here, my team will search"

"Team, I thought you said you weren't a hunter?"

"I'm not"

"But-"

"No time, huntresses should arrive soon to help you further"

"Okay…."

The figure took out a white crystal and replaced the door he destroyed with a thick layer of ice, while doing so he said to those inside "This will keep grimm out until help arrives"

The figure left the house to meet up with his brightly coloured teammate

"Anyone else alive?"

"There are a few that hid in the village hall, but other than that no sign, too many were stupid to think they could fight these creatures" Neo replied

"We have to be gone, huntresses here soon"

"Alright, are you okay?"

He looked down at her and grunted before giving a reassuring nod. While they were talking a ursa had caught up with them and lunged itself at the figure, he swiftly turned around and grabbed it's throat before slamming it against the ground.

"You two nearly done?"

"We had thought you forgot us, but yes, we are done"

Two other people made their way towards the duo before they exited through the forest

The bullhead stopped and let the huntresses jump down directly into the village, the pilate left to collect another team as if he stayed a nevermore would take him down. As soon as they touched down Ruby snapped out of her daydream and got to work, dishing out orders.

"Me and Weiss will keep the grimm away from villages houses, you two search every house for any survivors" The team nodded at each other before splitting off into their groups.

It wasn't long before Blake and Yang found the remaining survivors as there was less than 50 left. After making sure no one else had survived they set up a fire at one of the fields south of the village hall so they could see anything coming at them. Shortly after a fire had started Ruby and Weiss joined them, having checked that they cleared the area they knew they couldn't do much else when it was this dark. Blake took up a spot on top of one of the houses, putting her faunus night vision to use. Meanwhile Ruby checked their supplies, Yang kept the children happy, it came natural to her after having been there for Ruby after her mother died. Weiss walked over to the ex-huntresses

"I had heard that you were encased in ice, where did you get the dust to do that?"

"We didn't, there was someone here before you arrived, he encased us to keep us safe" Weiss' eyes widened at the mention of someone

"Was this person hooded?"

"It was pretty dark but I think he was, why?"

"We've heard of stories about a strange man helping towns, though he doesn't get any information about the attacks from any of the kingdoms"

"Maybe he knows why the grimm are attacking places frequently, if he knew why he could react faster"

"In that case it would be worth it to track him down"

Weiss walked over to Ruby to get her scroll from the supplies.

"We have to save their battery, what do you need it for?" Ruby asked

"The hooded man was here as well, if he's responding faster than us it would be worth it to find out what he knows, I'm getting permission for us to hunt him"

"But we need to be ready to protect any village that gets attacked"

"With what he knows we would be able to be at the village before the grimm"

Ruby reluctantly handed Weiss her scroll and left to check the perimeter. Weiss turned on her scroll, looking through her contacts until she reached Ozpin. It took him a while to answer his scroll, he didn't sound too happy that someone was calling him this early.

"What do you need this early in the morning" Weiss had completely forgot that it was night

"I'm sorry, I can call back later"

"I'm already awake, what is it?"

"Permission for team RWBY to hunt down the hooded man who keeps appearing in villages"

"You want me to send you out to find a myth"

"With so many sightings it's hard to believe that he's a myth"

"Even if he was real, did it ever occur to you that he's lucky to get there"

"But what if he does know something, right now we're blind and people are dying because of that. Any chance we have to learn more about this situation should be worth it"

"I will have to talk to the rest of the council, though I doubt they'll agree with our forces being spread thin as it is" Ozpin decided

Weiss closed her scroll and brought it back to the bag Ruby kept all their supplies in, when she handed her scroll to Ruby she received a questioning look.

"He's going to talk to the council about it, but it doesn't sound likely" Weiss responded solemnly

"We can't let them go and find him"

"But I don't feel as if they'll listen to us if we deny them this"

"If they do go then we can take away their status and publicly announce their abandonment at this crucial time"

"It won't matter, if they find him then it could all be over and they'd be brought in as saviours, I'd rather we were associated with them when they do"

A man entered the boardroom, everyone attending the meeting went silent and stared at the man, his blood-red cane in hand. He walked around the room, sending chills down each council member until he reached Ozpin.

"We will say no to this mission, you however Ozpin" He started, taking a pause to look around the room, he already knew what he wanted to say but he was always one to make things more dramatic

"Will give them your recommendation to go, we will publicly denounce them… They will never find the boy as he doesn't want them to. Those who were once viewed as humanity's saviours shall become their downfall" The man walked towards the exit but paused and looked around at the council members

"And their downfall shall become their saviour" He made his exit, swinging his cane around

 **A/N: Since this has been a long time and I am releasing it as a new fic rather than a continuation I was thinking of making a recap of the last one as it's a big ask for you to read through it all**


	2. Decisions

**A/N: This chapter does include information from Frozen Remnants and I have decided to go against the recap simply because it would have to go through nearly every line cause I might reference some line of conversation that isn't in a recap. Also, until I get into school work and know exactly how much I shall be getting weekly this year I shall be releasing chapters on a biweekly basis as to get ahead in chapters in case one week I can't write because of writer's block or just too much work**

"So what did he say?" Yang asked eagerly

"The council had disagreed to my decision" Weiss stopped "But he had recommended we go anyway as the situation is getting dire"

"I doubt Ozpin would tell us to disobey the council unless there was no other option" Blake pointed out

"But we can't just leave these people that it is our jobs to protect" Ruby bursted out in anger

"People are going to die anyway, look how many did in this village alone at the least we can respond faster with what this guy knows" Weiss argued

"That's not what my mother or Chase would've done" Ruby shouted

"And look where that got both of them!" Weiss responded, just as angrily before realising and regretting what she said. The team turned silent for a moment.

"Ruby I didn't mean to" She said softly

"It's okay, I just don't want anyone else to die if I can stop it" Ruby said, sounding tired

"We all do" Yang said hugging Ruby tightly "But we can prevent these attacks this way"

"I know, it's just a part of me doesn't want to leave these people"

"We can't keep reacting to the grimm attacks" Blake interjected "We have to be able to prevent them and act first, this will save more than it will kill"

"Okay" Ruby said, calmly "Then how should we start searching for this person, we don't know much about him"

"Well, no matter how good he is at fighting grimm he must have some base of operations" Weiss started

"It would have to be easily defended, probably some ruins in the forest or something" Yang said, seriously

"We have a map of the area in with our supplies" Ruby responded immediately, using her semblance to quickly grab said map

"It doesn't show anything in the forest" Ruby pointed out

"Well no one has really explored areas outside the four kingdoms unless it was to settle" Weiss said

"So maybe the villagers know of something near here" Yang suggested

"Yang and Weiss can ask the survivors about anything around here while me and Blake get everything ready to leave"

Weiss still felt guilt for what she had said about Ruby even if she had said it was alright, the fact that she went that far was worse than the glare Yang was giving her right now.

"I didn't mean to say it"

"I know you didn't but you still did"

"And I feel like shit for doing so"

"You're lucky that Ruby didn't mind it or else I would be having a different conversation with you right now"

They were coming up to where the remaining villagers had been huddled up in fear. Yang stopped a few feet before and put her hand on Weiss' shoulder indicating her to stop as well, she gave Weiss the 'we need to talk' look which struck fear into the heiress.

"We need to talk about the mystery man"

"Couldn't you have done this while we were having the team meeting?"

"It's not something I should say around Ruby, I promised not to say anything to her and it could cause her to invest too much into this"

"Well what is it?"

"Before Chase left on that Bullhead he wanted to speak to me."

"And?"

"He told me he was still alive, it sounded stupid at the time but… there's a possibility he's who we are chasing"

"Even if he was alive what would make you think he's the mystery man, Chase didn't use brute force to fight."

"No but you said that the survivors were encased in ice, you know better than anyone that it's near impossible to get dust now without your father's company knowing, even the White Fang stopped their attacks"

"If you're right then this could be easier than we thought"

"Harder, with his semblance"

"But if we can just talk to him, he might listen to us"

"Alright, but we can't let Ruby know if there is a possibility that it is him"

"Agreed"

Yang let go of Weiss and they walked over to the survivors, who were distraught, anyone would be if they had suffered what these people did.

"We need to ask you some more questions" Yang said somberly

"Sure, anything we can do to help"

"Is there anything in the forest around these parts? Ruins or Landmarks?" Weiss asked

"Umm, nothing close to us, but there are rumours of a ruined city far to the north, why?"

"We are going to try and find the guy who encased you in ice, he might know something about these attacks"

"I hope he does, if the other outer villages have it as badly as we do…."

"Umm, actually I would like to know if you noticed anything about our mystery man"

"We didn't really see him"

"Just anything, maybe the way he spoke, how he spoke, anything"

"Well, he sounded as if he was struggling with his words, he was always brief with what he said"

"Thank you, that could help us with finding him"

"Have you been able to find out who's behind all this?" Neo asked

"No, frustrates me" he grunted

"Maybe you should tell us something, you are having difficulties already, you need some help"

"I'm fine" he shouted

"Okay, we worry about you, just so you know"

He stayed quiet, staring at his food for a bit before mauling through the rest of it. After which he threw jumped up and left the house they took refuge in to check the area.

"You know I have the perimeter safe, there's no need for you to check. You need your energy"

"Have enough energy"

"Okay….."

"Worry too much"

"You haven't had any problems yet, but that doesn't mean you won't"

"I'm fine… really"

"They said that there is a chance that there is an abandoned city up north, but we don't know how far"

"Well, if they are staying somewhere that would be it, how far should we travel before we decide it's just a rumour"

"Well, looking at the map again, the most likely place for a city to be made would be here" Weiss explained, pointing to an area of the map near a river "The river would give them some defence from grimm"

"Alright, then let's head out tomorrow, after we get these survivors out of here"


	3. A Divine Encounter

They had been walking through the forests for a few days and were reaching the point on the map where they were most likely to find the mysterious man. The forest had been oddly silent during their trek, they had only seen a beowulf or two.

"It's eerily quiet, with all the attacks I was expecting more-" Weiss started

"Grimm" Yang interrupted

"Yeah, even without the attacks this place should have at least a pack" Blake commented

"It just feels so artificial here" Weiss said

"What would make you think such a thing?"

The sudden voice caused the huntresses to turn to face the source. A handsome man stood before them, leaning on the trunk of a tree. He had a smug grin on his face and a hat which covered the rest of his face in shade. He pushed himself up before politely nodding at the huntresses.

"You know people say it's rude to stare"

"Sorry, do you know anything of the mysterious man who's been saving villagers?"

"Know of him, I've been combing remnant to find him. If you knew anything that would be a great help"

"We don't know anything about him, sorry"

"Not even a guess? It would help so much"

"We said we don't know anything" Weiss said, clearly irritated

"No need for a pretty girl such as yourself to get so worked up, I was just asking after all"

"And she was just replying, nothing wrong with that right?" Yang said in a mocking tone

"Now now, I don't take kindly to being mocked. You best apologise"

"I'm not sorry for what I said"

"What a terrible mistake you've made"

The man turned his back on them and a red glow appeared in the distance, as it swung from left to right trees fell and team RWBY could feel a gust from the direction. The glow grew as it got closer they could see a figure dragging it behind him.

"I apologise, but I can't have anyone find him"

"There's only two of you but four of us"

"One of use, I'm afraid I have to leave, but this one should keep you entertained in your, final moments"

The figure dragging the red glow leaped into the air and slammed the red greatsword onto the ground in between the strange man and team RWBY, lifting himself up he rested the greatsword on his shoulder.

"Not this time" they heard from a distance along with a thump

The man with the greatsword didn't take his eyes off team RWBY and instead charged them, they were able to roll out of the way in time but seeing the destructive force of the sword made going on the offensive with this guy seem like a horrible idea.

He took no time in recovering before he swung horizontally towards the team, clash, they didn't feel anything hit them and realised that someone was fighting the man

"Stop the other guy, I can deal with this one" He barked at them

Ruby used her semblance to chase down the strange man, following his footsteps. The others decided to stay and help as they wouldn't be able to keep up with Ruby.

"I said I can deal with this one" he said pushing the greatsword away.

He looked at them as they brought out their weapons to aid him in this fight

"Look, if you want to help go north, wake the people in the tower up and tell them that God is here"

"What about Ruby?"

"I will find her once I'm done with this guy"

The trio left in the direction they had originally planned, they knew that it wasn't far but at the mention of God they made sure to get there as fast as they could.

While Chase had turned his back to his opponent he could feel him try and use this opportunity. Now that team RWBY was gone he didn't have to hold back against him. He blocked the sword with his arm, taking pleasure in his opponent's look of horror.

"What!?"

"Bet you wish you didn't get up today"

Chase parried the greatsword and grabbed onto the it while his opponent was still recovering, his fingers became claw-like as he ripped the greatsword away and crushed his opponent's head. He lifted the greatsword and examined it

'Weapons made entirely out of dust, I guess it's no different than me'

He focused to try and find where Ruby was, he could sense her aura wasn't moving, but nothing was around her. He quickly teleported beside her, looking around for any traces of movement.

"Are you okay?" He asked

She didn't even move in response.

"Son of a bitch" He lifted her and carried her through the forest to the tower where he had been staying

"Why did you port, you know that they can track that!" Neo shouted

"He was in this part of the forest anyway, we didn't have much time left here"

"And if he actually did fight you, what would you have done"

"It doesn't matter, we need to go"

"You would've died"

"We can argue this later"

"Neo, calm down, there's something else we need to shout at him for" A small boy stepped up, Seth wasn't the best at fighting but he was agile and could avoid anything making him a great scout along with his keen eye

"And what is that?" She said, trying to sound calm

"He's being too articulate"

"You didn't"

"I'm sorry…."

"What do you mean, what did he do?" Asked Weiss

"Since he can talk so well he must have -"

"They're here!" Chase shouted, his aura sense made it a pain when such malicious auras were nearby

"Isn't that convenient"

"Yes, it just fills me with joy that people are on their way to kill us" Chase remarked sarcastically

"We can have this fight later, if the people coming are anything like that guy we encountered it might be a good idea to leave now" Blake stated

"If you think that guy was threatening it's honestly a better idea for you to go back to fighting grimm" Chase said firmly

"What do you mean?"

"That guy was a pushover, if you can't fight him then you won't be able to help us, better to save the villagers"

"That's what we're trying to do, by finding out what you know about the attacks"

"What I know about them?"

"You're always there before us"

"Oh that, if I tell you then you go back to hunting monsters rather than men?"

"No, cause it would with you helping us protect the villages we could save more"

"I'm sorry, can't do that. I have bigger grimm to hunt"

A strong woman busted through the wall, landing in a pile of debris. However after a second she just got up and shook it off as if nothing happened, she looked at her friends and the huntresses in surprise.

"No no, it's fine. I'll just fight these guys myself, you guys just have your touchy feely moment. No problem" Cara said

"Don't worry we're on our way now, Seth take the huntresses to somewhere safe and tell them about the grimm activity, we can handle these guys"

"We can help fight these guys"

"You couldn't hold your own against one, what makes you think you can take a group of them"

Before Ruby had the chance to argue with Chase she saw glowing red shapes take form into weapons and Seth drag them out of the tower and they ran to the destroyed village that they had left only a few days ago.

"This will be a fun party" Chase said jokingly

"Really not the time" Neo replied, still angry


	4. Three man army

**A/N This is coming out a day late which is my bad, I have been too enveloped in watching Worlds over these past few days**

Chase stared at a moment at the small army that was standing outside his tower, he took in each of their weapons and planned ahead before making any move, they stood still sizing him and his team up.

"I'll admit you are better than the last team they sent, much smarter"

'Doesn't mean they'll survive'

 _Three years ago_

"I'm searching for an old friend of yours, one of your teammates" Chase said, calmly

He stared at the body of his former mentor. After searching the house he found no signs of a struggle, the place had been cleaned except for the brown cloak he trained in long ago

"He's been causing a lot of trouble, some really fucked up stuff. Human experimentation, turning people into grimm just so he can gain more power"

The silence in the house was deafening, Chase knew that he was talking to a body but he just didn't want to feel alone, he needed some sort of guidance on what to do. He was just a child for fuck sake.

"Has a real God complex about him, honestly I don't think I could take him, even if I trained and got more powerful he's doing the same. It all seems so hopeless…" He continued talking to himself "I couldn't even hold my own against one of his henchmen, yet Ozpin and Ironwood believe me to be the only one who can take him, I'm just one guy. It would take a thousand of me to even scratch him"

"I've decided to start doing a diary sort of thing, Being in the desert can be boring so why not talk to myself"

Chase turned and saw a holographic image of Tony, walking around the room he was in

"Not actually a diary, sorry for lying. Dust is a magical thing, allowed me to leave a fragment of myself in this crystal"

"Fragment, like that guy from the story"

"Yes, exactly like that, you see how can someone truly die, their raw emotion before death. Surely that outlives them right? Why do you think it wasn't until many had died from the grimm we had found dust"

"Wait dust is-"

"A persons dying emotion, their last whisper. The raw energy of that turns into a crystal, which is why war is so profitable"

"So you know about God"

"A little, my last memory is you leaving, guessing from your size and predicament that was a while ago"

"Yeah, I've become a monster since then and that's still not enough"

"I'm afraid I have some news for you, you have been a monster for a while. I knew from the moment you walked up to my door"

"Hmm?"

"You'll find out soon enough"

"That seems to be a phrase I hear often"

"I don't have the time to talk about your emotional problems, the crystal I imprinted is weaker than I had thought"

"How am I supposed to fight him when I can't even defeat one of his grunts"

"You were able to hold your own against me, the kid that I trained didn't give up this easily"

"The kid you fought had both of his arms, the kid you fought wasn't a weapon"

"He was a weapon, anyone who can manipulate and control his aura like that from such a young age I think should be deemed a weapon. What did I tell you about fighting, things don't slow down like most people say they speed up in fact. You have to be able to keep your cool no matter how much stronger your opponent is."

Chase took a few steps forward, his foes flinched a little at his confidence and his sheer presence as one against a small army, his teammates stood beside him preparing for a long fight.

"Who's first?"

A man charged him with a gunblade, Chase calmly avoided the savage thrust and kneed the man in the stomach, using his momentum against him. Many of the people in the back lines took out their heavy weapons and opened fire on Chase while his teammates got to work dealing with the front lines. Chase shielded each shot with a piece of red dust, which he was able to control perfectly, he then teleported to the back lines and caused ice spikes to erupt from the ground, impaling most of those around him, making sure he didn't hit any vitals, he couldn't kill again. Not again.

"But I fought calmly, I fought him with my all and I didn't even land a hit, no I landed one and lost an arm for it. This isn't a fairytale where I go out and train then fight him again and win. He is getting stronger while I do."

"You fought him while you were holding back"

"I fought him with everything I had"

"You fought him while fighting your monster, you can't win that fight."

"I can't let my monsters take over. I have to remain me"

"Then you won't beat him. He uses dust and power to keep his demons at bay, accepting yours is the only advantage could gain"

Chase sat silent for a moment, taking in the advice he had been given

"When… I mean if I beat him, I'm not going to make it am I?"

"You might get lucky, but most likely not"

"My life for his, seems like a fair trade"

"Could it be that you are actually afraid of dying?"

"No…. I'm afraid of losing myself."

"We all change, as long as you can keep up you won't lose yourself"

The holographic Tony dissipated and Chase was left alone in the mansion once again. Pondering on how he could fake the confidence needed to face Neo again. The memory of all his friends from Beacon raced through his mind, all the mercenaries and the people he saved. ' **You don't owe them anything, you've already done enough** '. 'This isn't my world, I shouldn't be here. But it would be nice to know that it is in a good place when I finally get to pass'

"That was too easy" Chase exclaimed walking over the unconscious bodies of the small army

"That couldn't have been to kill us" Neo started

"You're right, but why else would he send his men?"

"To watch how much you have changed" God interrupted

"Then why not just fight me like you did in the labyrinth"

"I needed to know how strong my own men were as well, I mean they do well against grimm and some of those hunters but you seem to be able to take them on by the tens without breaking a sweat"

"You wanted those men to die. Didn't you"

"Well there's no need to put it that harshly but yes"

"Unfortunately for you they are still alive then"

"Yes, I know. You have an annoying tendency to hold back. But you didn't on my man before, which is a real shame because I liked him"

"He made for quite the addition to my power"

"This coming from the person who is supposed to be the hero, killing to gain power"

"We both know I am no hero, I shouldn't even be here"

"Yes yes, well I shall be leaving you. I have business to attend to"

"I've heard"

"You have, how interesting" He said as he slowly walked away from the three

"We need to find a new place to stay now" Chase said

"And what to do with those huntresses" Neo replied

"I know, they can't do much but neither could we three years ago"

"We don't have three years to get them up to speed"

"Yes, but we could have them help us in other ways"

"How, they can't fight these people"

"Collecting dust, which we can't exactly do. They can also help get others on our side. God is going to have a much more expansive army and we need more than the four of us. We just have to teach them a few basics about fighting one of these grunts and they can teach others"

"The only reason we can fight them is because we have the same red dust that they use"

"They can walk around the kingdom easily, I have an idea"


	5. Our move

"There are a few things we need to know, right?"

"There is a lot we need to know"

"Yes, but only a few key things. Like why hasn't God acted yet? Clearly he is powerful enough, he has been for so long. What is he waiting for?"

"He isn't strong enough yet?"

"No, he knows he's been strong enough for years"

"He thinks something will get in his way?"

"But what?"

"You, why else wouldn't he fight you?"

"No, he fears nothing."

"Then what, you clearly know the answer already"

"He wants a specific win condition, he doesn't like the way we are ignoring him. He's not in control right now and he doesn't like it"

"So what are we going to do?"

"We are going to meet up with the others and discuss our next move"

A long time ago

"They're here again, we have to go" The boy was awoken by his best friend, they had been split from the rest of their village after their last movement.

"How do they keep finding us? We hide all of our tracks and stay out of sight"

"I don't know but we don't have time, those things are nearly here"

The two boys ran through the forest, they had the advantage of being very maneuverable in the trees due to the time they spent chasing each other in the village. While they were running from the creatures the younger one stumbled on a tree root. After he landed he screamed loud enough to alert everything in the surrounding area.

"What's wrong?" The older one said, looking down at the corpse of his friend's sister "I'm so sorry"

"She was with the others, how did this happen?"

"She might've fell behind, you know how ruthless these creatures are"

"No, children should be kept to the front. This shouldn't have happened"

"It shouldn't have happened to us either"

"You know why it happened to us, I don't know which is more ruthless. Them or us"

"What's that in her wound, it doesn't look normal"

"You want me to reach in there?"

"It might be something useful"

The younger one reluctantly grabbed the white object which was lying on his sister. It was immediately cold and he felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness and sadness. The feeling was so strong it caused him to keel over and the sounds from his friends, the shouts to get up and move were drowned out. The sound of a monster getting closer shocked him but not enough to snap him out of his state. He lay, paralysed as he watched his friend trying to help him before eventually running, the monster just ran past him though. He felt so cold and empty. He was alone. He tried to force himself up but collapsed to the ground

"So what are we supposed to do?" Weiss asked

"We need to get more people ready" Chase replied

"We can't get them ready for him though" Ruby argued

"We can't but we have one advantage over them"

"What is that?" Weiss asked

"He is only a copycat, he isn't the real God"

"That's just an ego, of course he isn't" Blake interjected

"No. I mean from the legends, God was the one who brought the use of dust to humans, he isn't that person"

"We know that and it doesn't matter if he is or not he is still the most powerful man alive"

"Exactly"

"What?"

"He is the most powerful person alive, but not the most powerful person dead"

"You aren't making any sense" Yang said

Neo stepped forward and placed her hand on Chase's shoulder, motioning for him to leave while she caught them up

"No, it's fine. I need you three to move on to the next location. I have other plans" Chase stopped her

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, we have to act while searching and in the state I am now I am of no use searching"

Neo lifted her hand and nodded before turning to leave. Chase turned his attention to team RWBY who were still looking at him confused. He went to make a friendly gesture but remembered they still didn't know it was him due to his hood.

"Dust isn't just an energy propellant… it's not some naturally occurring mineral that you all think" the four of them stared at him in confusion but made no notion to interrupt "It is a person's dying emotion that takes a raw form. Essentially it's a person as they died"

"If that were true then wouldn't we notice when we used it?" Weiss asked

"Not if you didn't have direct contact with it, our aura protects us from many things. Dust being one of them. The only way we could feel it is if it was apart of us"

"In other words-"

"If we were infused with dust"

"Like chase was…" Ruby whispered

"Chase?" he asked

"He was a friend of ours, he died a few years ago. He was infused with ice dust" Yang said

-Is it safe to tell them, it could get in the way if they react poorly. The more they know the better. But we can't prove it, we can't remove the hood.

"What does that have to do with defeating God?"

"Well, let's say for a moment that the real God, the one from the legends is real. He isn't alive to this day which means he had to die somehow. If we can get the dust crystal for whoever killed him we might stand a chance"

"Then why aren't we all searching for it right now?"

"Because there is a chance that he knows our plan and already has the crystal somewhere, which is where you come in"

"What?"

"We are going to go to vale and then I am going to check around to see if it's in there"

"If he had it then wouldn't he have already infused himself with it?"

"No, it would fight against him, a man as strong as God would've produced a red crystal. One that holds an entire person in it rather than just an emotion"

"So he needs to keep is somewhere safe…. why vale?"

"He's in control, why else would they not just let villagers into somewhere safe?"

"Because the amount of people would cause slums to start appearing around the four kingdoms"

"Surely everyone being alive is a better option?"

"I see your point, but why not just take everyone out. Why do it like this?"

"He doesn't feel like he's won yet. Something is holding him back"

"But what?"

"Let's go find out" he got up and headed for the door "Well, aren't you coming?"

"Why are we coming? Aren't we in your way?"

"Not at all aren't you the heroes who found the mysterious man who knows about the grimm attacks. Surely everyone is waiting and hoping for you guys to return"

"So you're going to help?"

"Yes, let's go"

His eyes finally opened, the cold had made his joints numb and he was slow to get up. When he finally had a sense of what had happened he saw he was surrounded by monsters. They started slowly approaching him. He clenched his fist around the crystal and swung wildly at the one in front of him, except he was still too far away from it so his arm couldn't reach. Shortly after the beast fell to the ground with ice sticking out of it's back. He stared at the crystal in his hand in disbelief before slamming it on the ground causing ice to erupt from the ground and impale the rest of the beasts


	6. Arrest Order

"So this is Vale?" Chase exclaimed

"You've never been?" Weiss asked

"I have, just never properly"

"Never properly?" Ruby asked

"It'd be best if you didn't know"

"Hmm" Weiss grunted disapprovingly

"I do what I have to" Chase replied and there was silence for a few minutes "So, where are you leading me to?"

"Beacon" Yang replied "Ozpin wanted to be the first to talk to you"

"Of course he would"

"You know Ozpin?"

"A little"

The team tried to find out how the mysterious man knew Ozpin but he was adamant about keeping it a secret. On their flight to Beacon he was taken aback from the view, he had seen it before many times but it had been so long. He was unfortunate enough to see what awaited him as soon as they landed. Armed forces.

"We found the mystery man who knows about the grimm attacks" Ruby stated as they left the airship

"I know and we have to bring him to justice" A man in a white suit said with a smirk

"What have I done?" Chase asked

"You have killed our men and you are infused with dust, that breaks two of our laws"

"I haven't killed any of your men and I deny your belief that I am infused with dust"

"We have evidence of you killing our men. Would you like us to test you for dust infusion"

"You have no right to test me as I am not a citizen of any of the kingdoms"

"Then we have the right to detain you"

"You do not. I have come here to help your people who are being killed outside of your precious kingdoms so I would advise that you let me speak to Ozpin"

The smirk was drained from the man's face as he realised he had no arguments left against Chase and he reluctantly stood aside to allow him through. The man's anger was replaced with fear as he looked down to his scroll.

As Chase passed by him he whispered to the man "And he's killed a lot more than I have"

Chase walked towards Ozpin's office where team RWBY waited outside while he walked in, they had to talk to him about their mission to find him.

"Good to see you again Ozpin"

"I wish I could say the same Chase" Ozpin replied

"So you do know who I am"

"I have my sources"

Chase took a seat in front of Ozpin's desk, pulling back his hood to reveal his deformed face. His eyes were glowing red as his aura sense was permanent now due to his loss of sight. The right side of his face looked almost completely like a beowulf.

"I see a lot has happened to you since we last met"

"Yes, so has the situation. My sources tell me that he is in control now"

"He is… We were unable to stop it from happening. He promised council members unimaginable power"

"And those who refused that were too afraid to act against him"

"Exactly"

Chase stood up and walked towards the window which gave a view of Beacon, staring at the view he thought for a couple of minutes.

"There were more kingdoms you know, while out there I found ruins of places larger than Vale"

"I am aware"

"I know you are, aura has done wonderful things for you Ozpin"

"And terrible things"

"Yes, living that long does take it's toll on people"

"So you know…"

"Yes, I found out a lot from the libraries. I've had a lot of time"

"I'm so sorry"

"I understand. Would be nice to know who though"

"I was hoping you knew"

"I know when just not who yet."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Sort of, I just need a little more time before I think I'm ready"

"You've had years"

"So has he, if I go now then everyone will turn on me. I need him to make a mistake"

"You would need to act soon, it won't be long until they have an actual reason to arrest you"

"I know"

"Send in team RWBY on your way out"

"I will" He said walking out "Wait why would he let them find me? He knew where I was there, there was no reason"

"He was hoping they wouldn't find you so that people would look down on hunters and huntresses"

"He wants them to rely on him…. He wants to be the hero, but why?"

"That doesn't seem to far fetch'd"

"It does for someone who wants nothing more than to see the four kingdoms fall and their people die"

"He wants to take their hope away"

"That's why he hasn't acted yet. The idea of me is what gives them hope"

"That's why he wants me arrested"

There was a loud knock on the door, Ozpin checked his cameras to check and saw the armed forces waiting outside his door.

"He's found his reason"

Chase walked back to the window as Ozpin opened the door from his desk. Chase turned and gave them a manic smile before throwing himself out the window. Teleporting as soon as he was out of view into the emerald forest, from there he snuck his way back into Beacon.

The young boy was still in grief, he had left behind his best friend to be mauled to death by those monsters. He had caught up with the rest of his village and they had told him that his actions were justified and he had to be sacrificed but he couldn't accept it. These villagers were just selfish and only cared about preserving their own lives. Even his friend's parents understood and were glad to see that at least he had made it out alive. -It doesn't make sense why do none of these people care that he's dead. They don't deserve to be here, he does. He would've done everything he could to save me and I didn't do the same for him-

"He's dead for fuck sake get over it" His father shouted at him

"Sometimes I wonder who the real monsters on this world are" He replied before running off, leaving the villagers

"Sir, he got away. Jumped out of the building and then he was gone"

God was enraged, all his work and they couldn't capture an insignificant worm.

"I want each of the men who were tasked with his capture here now"

"Yes sir" his soldier said as he left

-Why do I keep having these dreams of another life before this one, why does it make me feel angry and despairing at the same time- God cursed his mind as he went over his plan again.

"Not even close" Chase shouted up at Beacon as he put his hood back over his face to conceal the monster he had become. He pulled out his hacked scroll to contact the rest of his team, after a couple minutes of ringing Neo answered.

"Did you get what you wanted?"

"Not exactly, but I think I made him mad"

"Make a move angry"

"Hopefully, I'm going to talk to some hunters and then I'll meet you in the emerald forest, you nearly done in the ruins"

"Yeah, we've confirmed our suspicions, we should be good to go soon"


	7. It has Begun

The young boy, terrified of the white crystal in his possession hung it around his neck and thought, peacefully as he knew with this crystal he was safe from the monsters. -If I could find more of these… if I could learn more about these then maybe we would have a chance to force back these monsters and finally gain some land in this world- He lightly pushed the crystal up so that it was in his sight -It was on….. found on the body of a person- He took a breathe, pushing back his memories of his sister -As no one else has been able to do what I have by just holding this then it is safe to assume that it isn't a part of us.- He grasped tightly onto the crystal and willed a shard of ice to appear and moved it around -It seems to respond to my thoughts, it does what I want it to. Though it is limited to ice only I think there's something else holding back it's power.- He stood up and thought himself through the moments before he passed out -It could've been something left behind by whatever killed my sister… but why would someone leave this much power behind, that can't be it. Why did I feel cold and empty when I first touched it…. more importantly why don't I right now?- He kept his thoughts as he moved out to hopefully find more information on the mysterious crystal

"So it's almost time" Qrow said, downing the rest of his glass

"Hopefully, I've walked through his territory and disrespected his men."

"You sure you're ready for this, cause once he starts we only have one shot at this"

"As ready as I can be, the last remnant has been searched and nothing"

"So either we have the advantage or we are just waiting to be slaughtered"

"Yeah….."

"Well, we're ready to go when you are"

Chase downed his shot and then took the bottle.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now"

"Could be my last chance" he said before chugging half of the bottle

"Urgent news" The news reporter shouted, happy that they had finally gotten a good story. The young faunus was visibly excited as she looked back to see the video. It was Chase's escape from Beacon. His face being displayed to everyone in the four kingdoms.

"Wow, that looks so real, they must've had some nice high definition cameras there" Chase commented

"This….. thing was spotted entering Beacon and is believed to be the hooded man who has been seen mostly in outer villages. We have a special guest here to talk about him. A member of our council, Eunry Hawkins."

"Hello, I am glad to be able to talk about him. I want everyone to know that he is a danger to everyone"

"We can see that from the video, what do you think could cause someone to turn into this"

"This is the side effects of infusion with dust, he is highly unstable and needs to kill."

"But what about the dust infused students of Beacon, are you saying that they might turn out like this."

"Well, this person has obviously been infused for a very long time.. unfortunately there is a chance this will happen to them. Given enough time"

"What should we do."

"I must somberly tell you that we need to eliminate these students, this man takes priority though as his power is immense"

"How would we be able to take him down though, if he has such power"

"We have hunters which are specially trained to take down people such as him, we only need his location"

It wasn't too long before the boy found another body, with a red, glowing crystal just about sticking out of the chest. He kneeled down beside the dead man and gave his respects.

"I'm so sorry that your tale had to end here, what a terrible end it must've been, I ask that you forgive me for what I'm about to do… but I need to protect those who are still alive"

He used the white crystal to freeze up the area around the red crystal allowing him to easily remove it. Holding it filled him with energy, he felt pure rage flow through his veins, he clenched the crystal, causing fire to emit from his hand. The white crystal resonated, reminding him of who he was and he forcefully punched the air, dispelling the flames. -These crystals, the feeling I get when I touch them… it's what these people felt before they died. My sister was alone, this man was enraged. That raw feeling turned into magic crystals, that's what gives the power over the elements, could it be that they are the physical form of our soul? With feelings that even defy death being left-

"Hey, you there?" Qrow said slapping Chase

"Yeah, just sort of drifted off for a moment"

"May dust have mercy on us if you're the one to save us all"

"Yeah… looks like he's made his first move"

"To remove everyone who is infused with dust, he wants to make sure no one can oppose him"

"This is the opportunity he's been waiting for, to make me look like the villain"

"He's done a damn good job of it, no one would trust you now"

"I didn't expect them to anyway…. let's start this already"

Qrow took his scroll into his hand and typed a message, sending it to Ozpin. Within a few minutes hunters kicked down the door of the bar. Qrow standing with his weapon pointed at Chase.

"It seems calm for now but we need to act quickly so that it doesn't cause us any trouble" Qrow ordered the hunters

"Good work Qrow, but we have him from here."

Qrow began walked out of the bar, leaving the hunters to take Chase while he set up his part of the plan. He typed another message quickly on his scroll and sent it. Chase's scroll buzzed, he looked down at the message

" _Put on a show for them_

 _-Qrow"_

Chase clenched his fist, the red dust he had used to replace his missing arm crushed the table. He focused his Aura into his arm and swiped it to the right, forcing the table into the wall where it shattered. He took a deep breath and gave some of the control of his body to the dust inside him. -You know what to do- He turned to face the hunters, his eyes glowing red through the shadow of his face. They were unphased by this and instead readied their arms to fight him, waiting for him to make the first move. -Bad idea- He crouched down and leaped towards them, grabbing onto the closest one and smashing them through the wall. The rest opened fire on him, he created a shield behind him of red dust. He focused his aura into his left arm and swung it around, causing fire to erupt in front of the hunters.

"Did you honestly think you would be able to defeat me?" Chase said, his voice distorted

"We weren't supposed to."

Chase sensed him, walking so nonchalantly into the bar.

"You were only to keep me in the same place until he arrived"

"Did you see my news report?"

"Yes, it was such a lovely interview"

"Well I'm glad someone was able to find you before you became a danger to our kingdom"

"Well, unfortunately I'm not gonna go down so easily, especially to a council member"

"We both know that's not true"

"What are you waiting for then?"

"You to throw the first punch"

"Why didn't you just say" Chase


End file.
